I cut myself off of my old life. Packed my shit and left. It was very sudden, very violent. I literally lived in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country with no knowledge of the language for about 6 months and it took me more than a year to really even kickstart my new life.

The key things that pushed me towards a better life was that in a new environment i could be anyone. I was terribly unhappy with my old life, i wasn't progressing, i was surrounded by people who were just destined to slack. I've honestly tried to distance myself from them but it's hard - when you grow up in a shitty place, surrounded by shitty people and events, you get kind of molded by them. Bad friends and family are like drugs, either you quit them completely or you stay with them, addicted. There's no middle ground.

Then there's always changing your habits. I imagine the mentality switch from being completely miserable would be insanely difficult had i stayed in my home country, but changing cultures, countries and languages made this task incredibly easy. Sure it was hard to learn everything, but as you progress, you're not only less occupied by questioning your decisions or doubt (whether i made the right choice, maybe i really ruined my life by leaving, i'm getting older, etc.), but you're also learning other ways of living. You may also discover new talents, new things about you that you didn't even know you had in you. You will meet new people and see new places. You begin to integrate yourself into a new society and new culture and suddenly your old life will become nothing else but a collection of red flags that you need to look out for in the future.